November 19, 2013

Dear Family, 

Everyday we have time set aside to make calls, take calls, and take Mormon.org chats in the teaching center. Many chats that we get are just people arguing and saying we aren't Christians. Sister Escobedo and I sometimes laugh at what people say and other times we throw our hands up in frustration and then grab the arm rests. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith, repentance, and baptism. We are not here to defend our beliefs but to declare them. 

Earlier this week we took a chat from a 17 year old priest living in England. He asked a simple question "Should I get my ear pierced?" After typing back and fourth about it he said...well I would take it out for church. I thought PERFECT and thought of Elder Hollands talk Israel Israel God Is Calling (http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2012/01/israel-israel-god-is-calling you should read it) Read it for yourself. But we got to the point of talking about how we should never leave our religion--leave our standards--at the door. The 17 year old priest signed off after saying we made an excellent point and he no longer wants to get his ear pierced. 

This past week could perhaps be my hardest week so far, but it has been the best for my development as a missionary. Everyday I see God blessing me in ways I feel I don't even deserve. He truly loves each of us so much. He want us to return to Him again. 

It is the last week of my third transfer. I will have a new assignment and zone starting next Wednesday. So I will also get a new preparation day. If my new pday is Wed, Thurs, or Fri, then I will have two Pdays next week...I don't know what I would do with the extra time. Sister Escobedo and I should be together next transfer so that I can finish training her. She is doing well. Sometimes I get annoyed with myself because I feel bossy correcting her English and how to phrase things or how to follow the schedule. I'm sure the girls are thinking "Bossy? You are always bossy Becca!" Okay, so maybe that is true, but we are all bossy in some sort of way!\

This transfer went by so quickly! I just realized I haven't run into anyone I know very well this transfer and all the other transfers I had. 

I miss Sister Humble and I am going to miss her even more because she is going outbound! She doesn't know where to yet. She and I just got the job done! Guess what our biggest problem was?...having too many people to teach! Is that even possible? I don't know but it was an amazing transfer with her. Her companion she is with now has lost her uncle and grandpa recently and is struggling so I think she misses me too. 

My card reader was silly and erased my photos from this past week...which is sad because I drew Christ holding a sheep on a dry erase board and took a picture of it. It said "Feed my sheep." I will have to draw it again. Well I included cardboard birds that I cut out. It was slow at west gate so I took some trash and scissors and made little birds! My crafty side comes out every now and then. 

Lots of LOVE!

Blueski

PS See the picture of me making a weird face while at the MTC?...isn't the painting in the background beautiful? 

PPS I don't proof read my emails so forgive me if something makes ZERO sense

November 12, 2013

Rebecca's email from last week

Dear Family, 

Tonight is the Missionary Fireside we have been practicing for! I am very excited. The music should be wonderful. The best part is we all walk in carrying our flag. I love America! And we wave them around and stuff. It is fun. 

Oh dear I have no idea what to email about this week! Well, Sister Escobedo and I have had so much luck finding people to teach. This past week we started teaching Dwain from England, Tia from Philadelphia, Mariah from somewhere in the US (I forget where), and 4 people from Guatemala and Chile! The Lord is preparing souls for us to teach. 

Sister Escobedo passed off in English and Spanish this week so we got a free dinner at the Lion House! Yum! Their bread rolls are delicious and I got the artichoke chicken for dinner which was super yummy. 

I'm looking in my journal to see what else I can tell you about. Lately I have been better at writing in my journal! The one I started at the MTC is very close to being filled so soon I will start writing in the one the Taylor family got me before I left. 

This 13 year old boy named Cohen keeps calling me because he wants to learn about the church! But I can't talk to him until I get his parents permission. It is a very complicated situation. He is from North Carolina and has the sweetest southern accent. Pray that I will be able to talk to his parents and get permission to teach him, maybe even his whole family! He went to church with his friends and loved it. Sometimes it is hard teaching over email and phone because we miss out on face to face interaction. 

Last night my roommates, Sister Dantas from Brazil, Sister Richardson from North Carolina, and Sister Escobedo, and I sung nursey rymnes to each other to compare the different languages. It was fun. Then we all sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider in our own language out loud. So English, Portuguese, and Spanish all at once. Simple things can be so fun. 

I briefly heard about a storm going through the Philippines. We have six sisters from there and they had no idea what happened until people came on the square to them saying: "Is your family in the Philippines safe from the hurricane?" That is how we found out about it. That would be hard. I'm keeping all the victims in my prayers. 

Love you all! Take care!

Blue

Email Sent 11-5-13 (LET IT SNOW)

Dear Price Family,

This morning (6:00am early to leave the apartment) my companion and I were walking down the apartment stairwell to head to the temple and I heard a very familiar sound...a snow plow! Sister Escobedo opened the door, screamed, and stepped back. It was a blizzard outside! She has NEVER seen snow like this before so she has scared and it was hilarious! It was a good thing I decided to wear my long coat and gloves this morning. Our blinds are always closed and outside our window is just a stone ally so we hadn't checked to see what the weather was like before we left. I showed Sis Escobedo how to make a snow ball, it was cool. Anyway, snow is absolutely beautiful and I love it! I enjoy how Smitty always turns into a snow dog when he runs outside in the snow. It all sticks to him.

Things with Sister Escobedo are going great. She is very sweet and loving. It is funny how she talks sometimes. Things translate differently and she says stuff like "lets make a prayer" rather than "lets say a prayer." The way she words things can often make conversations with people on the square awkward, but funny. A while back I asked her what Mexican people say for awkward and she said "que oso" which technically means "what bear." So now I say "que oso" or even just "what bear" and it makes her laugh.

Best thing about my companion and I is we are well balanced and unified. When we teach, neither one of us owns the conversation. It is nice. It hasn't been like this the entire time together. At first during tours I would look at her to speak and she would give me a blank stare so I would just keep talking. But now she knows what to say. I think she always knew what to say, I just needed to boost her confidence. Everything she says is so golden, I love when she shares her conversion story with guests. Every time she does they are so interested and keep asking more questions. She has been a member for 6 years. Her former high school is now the Mexico City MTC.

This morning we called our amazing investigator Kelly. We met Kelly on mormon.org chat. This is her second time investigating the church. Kelly already knows everything! But she tells us she wants us to teach her everything again so she can review. She even goes to lds.org and reads talks and studies the Book of Mormon. It is wonderful. Sadly, her local missionaries have a virus and can't visit until they are better. Hopefully she can get to church soon!

For Halloween we all gathered into one of the theaters and got to watch Narnia! It was fun, but also weird watching an actual movie.

For Relief Society on Thursday (yes we have it on Thurs) I was asked to dress up as a disney princess and talk about what makes me a princess. We had Merida (from Brave), Cinderella, Mahama (from Johnny Lingo), Snow White, Ariel, and then Rapunzel! I was Rapunzel and I carried a frying pan and a stuffed chameleon. It was fun. Now some of the sisters will still call me Rapunzel. Even before I dressed up as her some sisters called me that already because of my long blonde hair. Speaking of which I am getting a haircut soon! Sister Ha from Korea cut hair in Gangnam (not sure if it is spelled right) and it is some high end place where celebrities go...so basically I trust her.

My mind is blank now and I am not sure what else to say...I forget what has happened this past week because so much happened!

oh... HaPpY bIrThDaY MOM!! You are absolutely gorgeous and perfectly perfect in every way!

All my love,

Blue

Sister Price is just a little chilly...

Email Sent 10-29-13

Dear Price Family,

My preparation day begins at 1:00 so we can work from 8:00am-1:00pm. In that time we got our flu shots, called our investigators in the teaching center, and took an amazing Spanish tour. It was a mother, her son who reports to the MTC tomorrow (going to Chicago), her daughter, and their grandmother. The mom spoke the least English, so my companion translated most of what I said. When we took them up to the statue of Christ or "Kristus" (called that because the original is in Denmark and Kristus is Danish for Christ) their eyes showed how beautiful they thought it was. They asked for us to take a picture. Sister Escobedo took the picture and I watched as the mother walked to the statue to touch Christ and she was not wearing her shoes. She had removed her shoes to go be by the statue. Suddenly the spirit overwhelmed me and I tried my best to hold back my tears. I thought of how Moses removed his shoes because he was on Holy ground. In the movie Charley I recall them saying something referring to Moses or something regarding removing shoes in holy places and they say "only those who notice" remove their shoes.

There have been many tours where I feel like my companion and I are only there to open the door for the spirit to testify to the visitor of the things we say. We want them to notice the spirit. We want them to notice the importance of Temples. We want them to notice that God loves us just us much as He loved His children during Biblical times, so we have a true living Prophet. Then we want them to act on their experience here. Not for our own benefit or personal gain, but for theirs! Because they are children of God and we are on His team. My companion and I can feel the spirit, but we need to open the door for others to feel it.

Yesterday Elder Oaks and his wife came and spoke to us! They spoke at the same time together and they went back on fourth teaching together. It was so precious! Sister Oaks was so sweet, whenever she joked Elder Oaks would step back, fold his arms, and laugh. It was awesome! The main thing I got out of their message is "the Lord will give you what you need, our prayers may not be answered in the way we want." I like this because so often with our investigators, they feel like their prayers aren't being answered. I love when we speak to them on the phone and help them notice the blessings God has given them.

On Saturday I went to my first baptism! It wasn't technically my first baptism, but it was the first one I've actually attended on my mission since my investigators are from all over the world. It was in Spanish, so half the time I wore a translator. There were two people translating and whenever one spoke, all I heard was gum chewing so I would take the head phones off. You know how I feel about gum...Anyway...I was so surprised as to how much I understood from the baptism! Dora and her son were baptized and Dora's testimony of the church was so powerful. When I saw Dora come out of the water she seemed different and I knew it was because she was perfectly clean.

Everything seems so fine and dandy so far? Well...driving home from the baptism Sister Escobedo realized that we missed our 12:00 Flag Pole tour and neglected to find cover for it. Some other sisters realized and took it, but I was so frustrated! I felt so mad at myself for neglecting to find cover for that tour. I felt like Nephi when he says oh wretched man that I am. It is also frustrating because I had messed up in the eyes of my trainee (or so I thought). After secretly feeling sorry for myself and being mad I realized that I was being dumb. And I was being dumb! So then I went to work and contacted two knew referrals who instantly became new investigators. Marissa, who is from Australia, and Ann who is from...actually I forget where Ann is from (well this is awkward). But they are two amazing woman who have been prepared for the gospel thanks to their member missionary friends.

This Thursday is Halloween! The Square will close early, at 5:00pm. Because otherwise pranksters and creepers would come on the square. So from 5:00pm-9:00pm we get to wear preparation day clothes and party in the South Visitors Center basement! It will be fun.

WOW there is just so much to say in one email! But I think I will leave it at that!

All my love,

Sister Rebecca Price

P.S. Fall is at it's peak here and it takes a lot inside to keep me from running around and throwing leaves in the air. I remember how in the fall in Cleveland all the geese from Canada would be stopping to head South even more and I would chase them around with the girls. Okay, so maybe it was just me that chased the birds, but still. Do you all remember that?

Oh Rebecca